He sure is. If Rondon is really OK then Hoyt's struggles are not so relevant to the performance of the big league club. But if Rondon isn't ready to go, Hinch will have to choose from among Hoyt, Boshers, Guduan, Paulino, and Martes to fill in that spot. I'd take Paulino but a lot of people think Hoyt would get the call.
Pretty sure the opening day lineup has to have Davis at 3B, White at 2B and Reed at 1B. Move Altuve to short and bench Correa. Just leave Springer out of the leadoff spot.
Hoyt seems like he has all of the physical tools, but he just has not performed well enough at the major league level. He's not exactly young, either.
White is hitting for more power and is getting on base nearly half the time. I would not say Reed has been as good. Granted, I am ashamed I just looked at spring stats at anything, but K%. Even K% only has a slight correlation to regular season stats.
Tucker needs to be in there. I guess Reddick has to go. And Kemmer's OPS is better than Springer's, so he's gone. Too bad Gurriel is injured, because his OPS, at 2500, leads everyone's.
Verlander out there dealing tonight. 8 K’s through 3 innings so far. Only 28 pitches and one ER (HR DeJong).
Is no one gonna point out that Kuechel looks like he’s in the best shape of his career? Dude looks like a beast. Clearly on a mission to prove everyone wrong + get paid. This’ll be a very interesting year for him. Really hope he’s 2015 dominant. Teams that are saving who strike out on the elite guys will have a consolation prize for Kuechel next year. Really hope he stays in HOU, but can’t blame either side if some random team throws 26mm/yr at him.
I read somewhere a couple weeks ago that he said he added 10-15 pounds (IIRC) of muscle in the offseason. Said he thought bulking up a little could help sustain him through a fully healthy season.
